My yoga journey started about the time I was six years old, twirling around in a dance studio in Hawaii. Something about wearing sparkly pink tutus spoke to me, and I was hooked. As I got older, I grew to love the artful strength that came with mastering the movements. It also became a sense of therapy, a way to calm my mind after school and bring my attention to a more physical focus. I had never been very athletically inclined in the more traditional team sports, but, as the challenges of dance became harder I quickly realized that it was as much of a physical and mental outlet.

I loved dance so much that when I went off to college, I intentionally decided on a school that had a great dance program in case I chose to pursue it as a career. I found myself heading across the country, just as nervous about surviving my first real winter as I was for the actual classes. Somewhere in the midst of trying to find my academic passion, my to dance had fallen to the wayside. It wasn’t until my final semester, when I enrolled in my first dance class in three years, that I was reminded of the beauty and the strength behind working within your own body. I had truly missed it.

After graduating, I moved back home without any plan for what I wanted to do with my life. I quickly picked up anything that came along, including a front desk job at a Bikram yoga studio. It was mainly a way to make some extra money alongside my unpaid internship, and the static, militaristic style of Bikram didn’t appeal to the fluid moving dancer within me. Nevertheless, I found myself intrigued by the culture within the studio. There was a sense of calm and community within the space, and the teachers always seemed to have a genuine smile.

A few months later I started at a new job, and shortly afterwards I found myself unable to continue at the yoga studio. I saw it as a good thing – my career was growing! Another two years later it continued to grow under a large corporation with lots of promise and opportunities. The longer I was at that job, the more I realized how much I disliked the corporate business model. It came with stress, anxiety, and pressure. Though many of my coworkers continued to compliment my calm and collected demeanor, I knew internally that my mentality had shifted to focusing more on the negatives.

In an effort to relieve some stress, I started going back to yoga classes, opting for a variety of ashtanga, heated vinyasa, and power yoga. Getting back on my mat made me realize how important it is to take time for yourself and both your mental and physical health. I wanted to be able to focus on some of the more positive things I felt I had lost touch with, and decided it was time to leave my job.

So, once again, I packed up and moved across the country, without a plan for what to do next. After taking some time off to travel and reflect, I was reminded of the happy yoga teachers I had worked with years before. I had always wondered what their secret was, and figured that now was my chance to find out. I started looking into yoga teacher training programs, and being a thoroughly indecisive person, found myself going in circles. By some passing, completely radical idea, I started looking into programs in India. “If you’re going to do it, do it big!” I thought excitedly to myself as I signed up for the course and booked the ticket. A few weeks later I found myself at the airport, passport (and shady online visa) in hand, questioning if I had really thought it through or not.

In all honesty, the moment I landed I wanted to turn around and leave. It was too much, what was I thinking?! However, I managed to get into the cab (for a thoroughly terrifying taxi ride full of dodging monkeys and noticeably missing lane lines) and arrived at the place I would call home for the next month.

By the time four weeks had passed, I had a greater understanding of the various aspects of yoga, and a new appreciation for the culture surrounding it. We had explore different types of meditation, discussed anatomy, touched upon philosophy, and learned hands on how to properly conduct a class (if you would like to hear more in-depth or have any questions about my experience in India please feel free to email me as noted below!). I was lucky to have gone through the course with a wonderful group of people, and felt confident in my skills as a newly certified teacher. I have spent most of my time since then continuing to travel, and teaching where and when I can.

As for the “secret” to the happiness that I had noticed years before, I don’t think there’s any single universal answer. In my case, as I continue along my yoga journey, I have found that feeling good from the inside out and being able to pass on the practice to others through a yoga class will always put a smile on my face.

Ask a studio of yogis – be they first class, a year in or long term Sun Saluters – what was their pull to first go to yoga, and the answers will be manifold.

“My doctor recommended it for my tight shoulders”; “I needed some ME time”; “I wanted to get more flexible”; “I had Lululemon tights and wanted to wear them somewhere other than out for coffee.”

My call to the mat and doing a downward dog?

Quiet – and at times, not so quiet – desperation.

From the age of eight-years-old, disordered eating thoughts, patterns and ways of being started creeping up on my psyche, progressively consuming me. By the time I turned 19, my entire being was swamped and entrenched in an eating disorder. This is not the time nor space to delve deeper into that aspect – I sometimes enlighten on my personal blog, www.popyarns.com, should you maybe feel the pull to read into it a bit more.

Years of on-and-off counselling, psychiatry and even an attempt at hypno-therapy proved minimal, if any, recovery. I look back and have no idea how I got through those years; perhaps the perfectionist, high achieving tendencies that often come in partnership with bulimia-cum-anorexia-cum-obsessiveorthorexia got me through (I somehow managed to be awarded dux all three years, which absolutely astounds me when I recall my mind frame). But with assignments and exams and early-20-year-old worries on top of constant calorie counting and obsessive exercising, my mind was a very busy – and never winding down – place.

Upon graduation I moved to Australia to blow off steam. Living in Brisbane with a group of gal-pals, there was a lot of drinking, late night (well, early morning) stumbling back to our flat and irregular eating. Although my consumption remained very limited to a handful of edible options, the alcoholic ingestion and its subsequent binge out on “no-no” foods had me put on a few kilos.

I was in absolute despair.

I moved home to New Zealand – a new boyfriend in tow – and we decided to go travel around South East Asia. The whole trip I would get up at 6am to go running for a few hours and spend the days obsessing over what I was eating, determined to shed back to my “ideal” size. A big divide started to
chasm out between us, and after a few months back at home after our trip, we decided to separate. (I think the moment was decided when he asked, “Would you rather be skinny, or be with me?” and I hesitated).

My inner reaction on us parting ways? Good. I can lose more weight without him in my life.

I was irritable and angry all the time. I was starving my body, then ramming it full of food when the cravings took control. Though my outside life was seemingly “perfect” (what even is that?), my head was in disarray. I was deciding whether I should move up to the city and take a journalism job, when one night I had this intense impulse that I wanted – no, I needed – to go to India.

Once the idea was in my mind, I didn’t waver once (well, at the airport as I was leaving I must admit I did have a moment where I considered going back home again). I started researching my forthcoming solo sojourn, looking at the standard touristy places to go and making a list: Varanasi, The Taj, a week on the beach in Goa. Then the idea came to me to maybe spend a few days engaging in a yoga retreat; It’ll be good for clearing my head, I thought.

I looked into a few options, and saw the price for a fortnight of “blissful restoration and rejuvenation” equalled that of a month-long teacher training course. As someone who is somewhat infatuated with the idea of adding more qualifications after her name (again, that high achieverness), I decided it was the way for me. I booked one that “felt right”, and come the end of July 2015, I was in the colourful chaos of Rishikesh, Northern India, with my bright pink Nike tights and a whatthe-hell-am-I-doing-here panic.

Having only ever participated in two yoga classes in my life (I grew up always playing more combat sports like netball, basketball, athletics and water-skiing) I had no clue what I was up to. The other females in my course had been practicing the ancient science for a fair few years, already familiar with the Sanskrit terminology and what-angle-your-foot-goes-at-in-trikonasana. I wasn’t in tune with myself in any way whatsoever; when told to keep hips square or catch my left foot, I was so out of whack with where I even was. After a few initial days of anxiety and considering leaving, I somehow found my zone. By the time four weeks was up, I was utterly transformed.

To say yoga saved me sounds so proclamational and nonsensical. But I believe it truly did. By the end of my 30 days, I had somehow learnt to love my limbs, recognising them for so much more than just their size. I had learnt to applaud my body when it did me proud, looking at it with affection and not hatred. And when it did let me down (nailing a headstand took a fair few attempts), I learnt to give it care, not criticism.

That’s not to say I was “cured” – not by any means. But my head found some clarity as I contorted and meditated and chanted, and upon return home (after a flit up the Everest Base Camp, another transformational experience) I signed up for clinical rehab and only semi reluctantly received treatment. I was able to timidly admit that I was sick, rather than vigorously assert I was as I was as a result of veganism and a swift metabolism.

And here we are two years later, me back in India having redone my 200-hour Hatha Yoga teacher training (at Rishikesh Yog Dham, the school I came across in my first trip that I vowed I would return to) and currently in the midst of my 300-hour Vinyasa teacher training. At 10kg heavier, my body is far stronger and capable of achieving postures I once would never have been able to try.

I still have those awful eating-disordered thoughts each and every day, but I’m recovering, one moment at a time. And I firmly give that credit to yoga; it gave me the motivation and tools my mental state required to willingly save my life.

Yoga also puts me in my place. I physically cannot be the best; my left knee turns out, meaning any balance is fleeting. I have slight scoliosis, so my back has a little hunch that only semi straightens. But rather than frustrate me as it did in the beginning, I have come to accept these ailments and just look forward to the backbends.

There are many draws to the mat; health, the trend, a bid for self-love or even purely as a form of exercise. But regardless of what made you pick up the pencil and sketch that first stroke, yoga can be extremely beneficial – and sometimes even life changing – to all.

I shudder to think where I would be if I hadn’t found my freedom.

That’s the big picture of what drew me into being a yoga teacher. And what continues to keep me picking up the crayon of taking classes. If someone asks me what got me into it, of course I don’t share this extremely personal spiel; my usual response is something like, “I just decided to try it one day”.

There’s that whole “Keep Calm and Do Yoga” mantra that you often see emblazoned across social media. But I always think it should be flipped about; “Do Yoga and Keep Calm”. And balanced. And at peace. And able to find your inner strength. And your physical. Plus your shortcomings, your ailments and your abilities. Find yourself in general, really.

When asked what I do, I reply with “spread sunshine through yoga and meditation.” I may get the occasional blank stare, but it’s the truth. After discovering yoga as a therapy and healing practice during my recovery from anorexia, I started primarily studying ashtanga yoga, which I explored for a few years on my own through books and online videos. With a crazy work schedule, the flexibility to practice whenever I could in my apartment was perfect.

I grew up on the East Coast, where much of my family still lives today. I played team sports and was an avid athlete. I went to college in Atlanta where I competed in track and field, and continued exploring fitness, especially as an antidote to stress. After graduation, I moved to Wisconsin for a job, and focused my free time on connecting with other yogis and deepening my own practice.

Since moving to LA last year, I have received my teaching certification under Travis Eliot and Lauren Eckstrom, and have mentored and assisted additional trainings and workshops. I incorporate breath, meditation, and alignment through conscious body awareness in my classes, preferring more gentle flows and philosophical teaching.

For me, yoga is a journey of self, and is always evolving. It is not about the workout so much as it is about the mind and the intention. My personal practice is so much more than just a daily physical flow. I have so many dreams and visions, so it is constantly evolving. On a basic level, I commit to practicing yoga every single day. Though it may not be a complete physical flow, I will get on my mat and set my intention. A commitment I made at the beginning of 2016 that I have kept every single day since January 1st is to do 12 Sun Salutations at some point. This has grounded me and has been one of the only “constants” in my life. I count on it, and I have grown much stronger, physically and mentally.

Now, I have transitioned to a career based on wellness, health, and yoga. Cultivating and advancing my practice has allowed me to delve into something that I have discovered to be my passion: spreading yoga and healing others. To be able to share and teach is what I am meant to do. I teach private lessons and corporate classes, substitute teach at various studios throughout LA, and collaborate with health and wellness companies worldwide, through social media blogging, marketing, and instruction. I have also received my teaching certification in restorative yoga and am actively pursuing additional certifications and education.

Whether you are completely new to yoga or have been a long-time yogi, I would love to practice and connect with you! Come join me spread sunshine–if you’re local in LA, I can usually be found at the beach, at a park, or outside with my yoga mat. Contact me through my website Sunshine with Sarah ( www.sarahcyogi.com ) and follow me on Instagram @sarahcpitman ! Keep shining.

Do you have a yoga teacher that inspires you? Reach out and let us know. We would love to send some love to instructors all over the world.

I was raised in Northern Mexico in a small, seaside city called Tampico. The City is surrounded by water, and its essence found its way into my heart. Through this love of water, I became enthralled with fluid movement and the interaction between the body and the mind. These passions were manifest through martial arts and its traditions and competitive spirit.

Photography: John Mazlish

I began Yoga to improve my alignment and promote proper breathing during physical activities. I immediately fell in love with it and its focus on balancing the body and mind. I am new to teaching yoga, but I have an old soul with years experience in martial arts and the mind-body connection. I completed my Vinyasa Flow Yoga teacher training in 2015 in Tulum, Mexico, where I now live.

Photography: Anna Kin

Shortly after a Tribal Yoga studio opened in Tulum, I was given an opportunity to teach a class. My Sunday fun-day Tribal Yoga practice is often the highlight of my week. Our Yoga community plays with poses and I share effective ways to increase balance, flexibility, and strength as they relate to inversions, balance, and movement.

Photography: Anna Kin

As a Yogi, both on and off the mat, I consider myself a perpetual student, always open to learning different ways of teaching, practicing, and points of view in order to grow my practice. This can come from different styles of yoga, or even other disciplines in movement.

Photography : John Mazlish

Having a great relationship with Tribal Yoga and ZAMAS Hotel, along with other Tulum based companies, I am planning yoga events for the near future… because practicing and visiting paradise sounds like a dream come true.

Like most people, it’s taken a lot of trial and error to find a fulfilling career that I’ve been searching for, over the past decade. Lucky for me, good things come to those who wait! It’s cheesy and maybe not always true, but in this case – it is!

Photo: Justin Dennis

At a young age I fell in love with theatre, movement, and music. I found that other people’s stories helped me realize many things in my own life. At age12 I began performing. I continued performing and went on to study at The Boston Conservatory and The University of Houston. Upon graduation, I moved to New York City with two suitcases and a big dream (just like Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street, forgive the musical theatre reference.) It didn’t take long, though, to realize that I hated auditioning. It knocked the love and passion of storytelling out of my dream and morphed me into a desperate, self-defeating version of myself.

Photo: Caitlin Randolph

So, bye-bye theatre and hello marketing. I landed a job at a PR agency as an office manager and shortly after began working as a publicist. After a layoff, , and breakup, I found myself feeling lost AGAIN. I stumbled into a yoga studio down the street from my apartment in Astoria, Queens, and my life changed.

Photo: Juhn Kwon

I found myself in a room where movement and music were actually healing and not competitive like the Broadway scene. It was a space to help people find freedom within. I went every day, surrendered to the practice, and let it bring me back to life. I couldn’t wait to share my love of yoga with other people, so I did my 200-hour teacher training and began my own teaching while I was completely my own training.

Photo:John Kwon

I now teach at One Down Dog, Radha Yoga, Visions Adolescent Treatment Center, and work with private and corporate clients. I’m also the fulltime marketing manager for One Down Dog. After all of my career changes I get to use the skills I’ve learned to tell stories and help people reach their own realizations.

Photo: Juhn Kwon

I would love to connect on instagram @cynthiacher or Facebook @ Cindy Godell

Do you have a yoga teacher that inspires you? Reach out and let us know. We would love to send some love to instructors all over the world.

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